Computer Skills: What You Need to Know to Go Back to School

Technology has affected all aspects of our society, and schools are no exception to this rule. When preparing to go back to school as an adult, you may feel as if you aren't ready because you lack an understanding of computers and technology in general. This article will serve as a basic introduction to computers and the Internet, in the hopes that you will be brought to a level of technological par that is expected of you while you are in school.

First off, for those of you that have I'd like to discuss computers in general and get you setup with some basic vocabulary. The screen is called a monitor. The keys are called a keyboard. That clicky thing is a mouse. Microsoft's Windows XP and Apple's Mac OS X are operating systems, meaning they are the software that tells the computer hardware what to do with itself. The computer hardware include the processor (the brains), the CD or DVD drive (used to read CDs or DVDs), memory (used to temporarily store information while the computer is on), and the hard drive (used to permanently store information, even when the computer is off).

Now that you have your basic vocabulary, I'd like to discuss the other elephant in the room: the Internet. Wow, what a loaded word. Think about it for a second - what images or ideas pop into your head? What is the Internet, and who makes it run? Maybe it's something like the Wizard of Oz, with a old man standing behind a curtain manipulating controls in a vain effort to confuse little Dorothy. Well I'm here to tell you it's nothing so nebulous - in fact once you understand just how the Internet is put together, you'll wonder why you didn't think of it first and become fabulously wealthy! (Or maybe that's just me)

One common misconception is to consider the Internet and the World Wide Web as the same thing. That's wrong - the Internet is the worldwide network of computers, the World Wide Web is a collection of documents, images, and sounds that are stored on the network of computers, and can be easily accessed by anyone using a web browser (such as Internet Explorer or Safari), as well as the associated protocols required for two computers to communicate these documents and images between each other. An example of a site on the Web is http://www.cnn.com, where you can peruse the latest news, as decided by CNN. Now as you might guess, there are quite a few web pages out there. So how do you find what you're looking for? Why with a search engine, of course! Everybody's favorite is Google (http://www.google.com) but they all do the same thing: try and find what you want through the disorganized mess that is the World Wide Web. How about the timeless question, how much wood could a woodchuck chuck? Google found 1.43 MILLION pages for that phrase. Wow. And none of them had the answer.

Another wonderful technology that the Internet has made possible is called electronic mail, or e-mail. E-mail allows you to send electronic messages to people over the Internet. It's fast, easy, and free (Compared to slow, cumbersome, and .39 cents a stamp for the regular mail). Everyone has their own email address which is a unique identifier and allows you to direct a message to that person. The quickest way to having your very own address is through a free Web provider, such as Yahoo (http://mail.yahoo.com) or Google Mail (http://www.gmail.com). Those services allow you to create an email address and both check and write emails using your web browser. Fire up Safari or Firefox or whatever is installed on your computer and give them a try. Remember, if you use Yahoo Mail you're actually using the World Wide Web to access your E-mail, which are two completely separate things. So e-mail equals fast and free contact with anyone on the planet - that's a wonderful way to stay in touch with distant relatives or old friends. (As long as they have a computer!)

As far as software packages go, you really need to be familiar with Microsoft Office. It is the standard for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and email. Luckily it's very simple to use, and if you've used Wordperfect or some other program in the past, Office will be an easy step for you to learn. If not, I would recommend one of the many online tutorials available to help you understand how this piece of software functions and why it's so useful. I guarantee you'll be writing reports on Microsoft Word, working on group presentations in Microsoft Powerpoint, and crunching numbers in Microsoft Excel (all part of the Office package). If you can't afford Microsoft Office, there is a program called OpenOffice that does many of the same things, and it's free! Give that a shot and you'll have all the basic office programs you need to be a successful student.

So that's it, there's your basic introduction to computers and the Internet. I hope this article gives you a base of information to pull on when you go back to school, so that you're prepared to deal with the technology and you can learn to use the technology to your advantage!